Midland couple officially welcomes daughter on National Adoption Day

Published 6:00 pm, Monday, November 17, 2014

While first-time parents may go through growing pangs with their newborn, it is not so often that parents are thrust into their new role with a 10-month-old child.

Reed and Jenny Townsend officially welcomed 2-year-old Alexis into their family Friday when their adoption was finalized on National Adoption Day at First Baptist Church in Odessa.

“It feels great to have the adoption finalized,” Jenny Townsend said. “It’s definitely a relief and it’s almost a little surreal.”

Although the idea of one day adopting a child had been a topic of conversation, the couple hadn’t seriously thought about pursuing it until they began to struggle with conceiving a child, she said.

“It took a little longer to get pregnant than we had expected and that really spurred us to look into it more,” Jenny Townsend said. “We prayed about it and felt that it had been long enough, that it was time for us to look into adoption.”

The couple learned about Buckner International’s foster and adoption programs through their church, where representatives from the nonprofit had gone to share its mission and to search for potential foster parents.

After learning more about the program and what their options for adoption would be, the Townsends decided to begin fulfilling the necessary steps to become foster parents and, hopefully, to adopt a child.

While getting certified for the foster-to-adopt program, the Townsends discovered that they were expecting a child. The news, however, did not sway them from continuing with adoption process.

“We still felt like God had made it clear that he wanted us to pursue this,” Jenny Townsend said. “We continued with the process of getting certified because we felt like it was the right thing to do.”

Finished with the certification process by September 2012, the Townsends were placed with 10-month-old Alexis the following month.

In February 2013 the couple’s son Nehemiah was born, much to the delight of his big sister-to-be Alexis.

“She loves (being a big sister), it’s probably her favorite thing in life,” Jenny Townsend said. “She has tons of baby dolls all over that house that she is always carrying around and caring for. When baby brother came along she just couldn’t stand the excitement. Any time her little brother is willing to play with her and have fun with her she just has a blast.”

Jenny Townsend said they have been pleased with the work done by Buckner to make the process as smooth as possible.

“I felt like I could call (Buckner) at any time to ask question, even when they were easy questions that I knew were written down somewhere else and that if I dug I could find the answer. But I knew I could just call them and that they would be happy to help,” she said. “Buckner has taken great care of us. We always felt really supported by (them).”

Sarah Hataway, the Buckner foster care and adoption case work manager, said in the two years since her placement, Alexis as integrated well into the Townsend family.

“They have done an amazing job with Alexis,” Hataway said. “She is so incredibly smart and I think that it’s because of the nurture that she gets from them.”

Having visited with the family almost every month since the placement, Hataway said she has seen the relationship between them grow.

“They are very gentle and caring for sure. She is also very loving toward them and you can tell the attachment there,” Hataway said. “She really doesn’t know any different because she was only about 10 months old when she was placed there. That is her mom and dad and her brother. Even grandma and grandpa on both sides are extremely close to her. They’re a great family, they love each other and they love their kids and you can tell.”